Being Thankful for God’s Providence

Sorry that it has been a bit since I have posted. I started a new job, transitioned to a new home, painted the new house, started 2 more courses and am anticipating a new addition to our family! Michelle and I are pretty stoked, she is due in July.

In one of my courses I had to read an article analyzing the results that the Barna Group had conducted. The Barna Group had phone interviews with a 601 Senior Pastors from different denominations, ethnicity, education and geographic locations from November to December of 2003. (Barna) What they found was that these all factored in to ones biblical worldview. The Barna Group defined a biblical worldview as “…believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible, and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize)…” (Barna) What the research found was that only 51% of protestant Pastors agreed with these points. Click here to read the article in its entirety.

I was terribly saddened by the results. I was saddened that in Christ’s universal church, only 51% of Senior Pastors lived out their calling fully. (Barna) As ministers we are called to speak God’s Truth to those around us; to those within the church for encouragement and challenges. To those outside that God may shine His light in their hearts and draw them to Himself. (2 Cor 4:6) How can Christ’s bride be edified without the preaching of the Word? All of us, from those God has called to teach from up front to those that God has called to serve at home, are admonished to hold fast to God’s Truth:

“And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.” (Acts 20:32)

At the same time, I am grateful. I am grateful because God has been so good to me. When He called me to Himself in grade 11, He put men in my life that instilled the importance of having a biblical worldview as defined by Barna. They encouraged me, challenged me and sparked a passion for Christ’s supremacy in my life and to see all of life through the lens of Scripture. I am thankful because I still have mentors, especially my Sr. Pastor, who has a biblical worldview and challenges me when I try to do things by the worlds standards than by God’s. God has been so good to me.

In an age where truth gets watered down and is defined as being subjective, individual, changing, unknowable and relative; we need men and women to stand firm in God’s Truth. We need mentors and Pastors to “…explain and model…” (Barna) to young people how the Word of God is relevant to all of our lives. I had men do that for me, and it has made all the difference.

About Me

I have a great wife who I love. We live in BC, Canada and minister to those in the city we live in. I enjoy coffee and reading the news. I especially love jotting my thoughts down to help make sense of them!